Three seconds, three damn seconds and my life had changed right there and then forever. I was the SCW World Heavyweight champion and I, along with the world was pretty damn shocked. I couldn't believe it, the look on the crowds face showed they were as shocked as I was. Strangely last night I saw a debate on if you need a championship to define you on social media, and I don't believe you did, I've had more fun in the ring with non champions, I was ok to let my work rate define me, but just a couple of weeks ago, that three count made me a champion. I know people will remember me for it but I hope they don't forget the great matches I had with Travis Nathaniel Andrews, with The Monstimals, with others who wasn't top champions, I want to be remembered for being able to wrestle anyone to a high standard over what championships I've won.
After all, Despayre is a Hall of Famer, he never once got hold of the World Heavyweight championship, he never needed a title to prove his popularity. I was the same up until December 20th 2019 and now here I am, holding what most people need to define them. I don't feel like this defines me, but maybe I'm still in shock. Weeks have passed since I could call myself the SCW World Heavyweight champion, yet I wanna take you back to that day, to that exact moment that the referees hand hit the canvas for the third time.
DING DING DING!
"What the..." the thought rushed through my mind so fast, the worlds almost blurring in to each other.
"And New SCW World Heavyweight champion..." I could hear Justin announce.
"Wait, did I pass out?" I questioned. "Maybe my hand instinctively hit the canvas when he rolled me up there."
"Ben Jordan!" Justin's voice continued over the screaming crowd.
"Wait, what?" jumped in to my mind.
The crowd were cheering around me, men, women, children jumping up and down around me as my head slowly moved around the crowd, my eyes moving from one smiling face to the next. Inside it just didn't register, not even when the championship belt was placed over my shoulder and I got to my feet. Go and play in back on demand, I have countless times and my face did not look like the face of a man who just won the biggest prize in the game, it looked sombre, and believe me, I felt it. Even when Evie through her arms around me with the championship belt between us, all I could mutter to her was some simple words.
"This is a dream, right?" was all I had.
"You're the world fucking champion!" Evie yelled back at me above the roar of the crowd. "World.... Champion."
I was the World Champion, but all those smiling faces around me still didn't help it sink in. I had the championship on my hands, I was looking at it, just me and Evie stood in the ring, the crowd was going absolutely potty but in my head, it was a dream. I looked towards Justin who threw me the sign that the show was off the air and knew I had to play up to the crowd. I raised that belt above my head and the noise was deafening. I could see Evie's lips moving but the words wasn't getting to my ears. I cast an eye outside the ring again to see Jason Adams and Belinda Simone moving away from the commentary desk, their job for the night done, but both were smiling at me. Eight long years had lead me to here, they'd been commentating on about six and a half years of my career. I did the turnbuckle thing, climbed up and waved the belt around, standard stuff before I left the ring, seeing Amy and Joey Santino in the front row alongside Joshua Acquin and I had to go see Amy. Without her giving up her time, I couldn't have made my version of a Christmas Carol work. It didn't take long before I saw standing in front of Amy, a friendly hug in progress.
"Congrats." She said to me with a wide smile.
"I can't believe it." I told her.
She knew it was gonna take time to sink in, and a handshake later from Joey and a firm nod from Joshua and I was on my way back up that ramp, tired, aching but as a champion. Stepping through that curtain was a whole new experience for me.
"Congratulations." Many difference voices in the crowd said as Evie and I walked through the curtain.
My eyes fell upon my fellow workers, nodding and clapping as we walking through that curtain, congratulations rung out from everywhere. I knew I was seen as one of the older brigade in SCW because I'd become part of the furniture here but this was a shock even to me. I looked at the older faces, the newer faces, I even looked at Roxi Johnson, crowned Bombshell World Champion earlier that night. I gave her a smile and nod as it dawned on me, holy hell, I was on Roxi Johnson level, result! A few steps down from the curtain and I was mobbed. There was handshakes, pats on the back and a huge hug from a little redhead.
"I knew you could do it." Sam Marlowe said to me excitedly. "I just knew you could."
"Thank you Sammi." I replied. "I really can't believe it."
"It's been a long time coming." She reassured me.
"Now not to lose it in just a couple of weeks and I might be a happy chappy." I tell her with a smile.
My eyes moved around the room. I could see Caleb Storms looking disappointed as he talked to Katie, I spotted Lachlan being his usual, withdrawn quiet self just in conversation with Sierra Williams. Fenris stared at me from across the room, just giving me a quick thumbs up before turning and walking away. I looked towards Austin James Mercer, a man I respected giving me a firm nod, to which I responded by raising my hand in a drinking motion, only to get another nod from him.
"Offering a drink to Austin?" Evie said to me with a touch of surprise.
"The man is a locker room leader babe." I said to her. "People look up to him, if anyone is gonna give me a tip or two on how being a champion is gonna go, or little things I can do to not make this run forgettable, it's him."
Evie nodded to me in agreement, but my eyes drifted to the other man in the match, Senor Vinnie, his eyes stared back at me, clearly a look of displeasure on his face. I didn't wanna smirk back, it wasn't me but regardless of his later tweets, I could tell he had a chip on his shoulder the size of Tijuana. I knew he was probably more upset that he went out of the match as soon as he did, but I can tell there was very little respect coming from his direction, in fact I was certain he was coming up with a way to try and get his rematch as quickly as possible, obviously, I now know that was the case. A hand reached on to my shoulder as I break my glare from Vinnie, the hand of SCW boss, Christian Underwood.
"Congratulations Ben." Christian said to me in an oddly warm tone. "You've worked hard for that over the years."
It was hard to know what to say to him at this point, it hadn't sunk in at all.
"I appreciate it." I told him.
"Well, things are about to pick up pace for you." Christian said with a warning tone. "Everyone is gonna want to interview you, everyone is gonna want you to fly all over the country to do interviews, they'll probably ask you the same questions over and over, just remember you're the male face of SCW now."
I saw something out of the corner of my eye, Mark Ward talking to Roxi Johnson, presumably giving her the same talk.
"I haven't let you down in the past, I won't now." I told him
Christian looked at me and nodded, he knew I was sincere.
"Well, you can pick and choose mostly what you want to do, there's times Mark or I will set something up that will benefit the company." He explained. "Meeting with sponsors, charities and so on and it starts tomorrow morning. Press conference, 9am. I'll send you the details."
Not even twenty four hours passing and I was to be presented to the press like a footballer on a club record transfer.
"This should be interesting." Was the only thought that came to mind.
The morning of 16th December 2019.
There was a buzz in the air as a crowd of reporters gathered in a room in a hotel ballroom, waiting for me to appear and chat with them. Christian and Mark had both reassured me that they would be here just to be a part of this and lead me through if I struggle. I've been a wrestler for years but this was like walking on stony ground for me, ground the bottom of my shoes had never stepped on. I hadn't let that championship belt out of my sight since I won it, and I doubt I will while I have it, I didn't even know if that was normal. All these things ran through my mind as I watched Christian and Mark confidently walk on to the stage, moving behind a table as a flash of camera lights took shots of the two SCW owners, both calmly taking a seat on stage. The two wait for the cameras to stop flashing.
"Good morning and thank you all for joining us." Mark Ward said with his usual confident tone. "Last night, we saw some amazing action where two new champions were crowned."
"Today." Christian continued. "One of those champions are here with us to talk to you about last night. A lot of people see him as the best wrestler to never win the World Championship, but that changed last night as he defeated five men to become the SCW World Heavyweight champion, so please welcome to the stage Mr Ben Jordan."
That was my cue as I looked at the SCW World Championship on my shoulder and walked across the stage to a flash of blinding lights. I'd done these things before but there wasn't as many people there but I tried my hardest to look confident as I moved towards where I had to be, shaking hands with both bosses before sitting in front of them and taking the championship belt from my shoulder and propping it up in front of me. I had to wait for a good few seconds before people talk their seats and was willing to listen.
"Alright people." I unsurprisingly started with. "I wanna thank you all for coming out here this morning to have a little chin wag with me, but I gotta be honest with you Christian. Many would say Despayre is the best who had never been World Champion, but I appreciate the sentiments."
I saw Christian smile from the corner of his mouth as he looked at me.
"So, let's start with some questions." Mark Ward said to the crowd, causing hands to fly up in the air and Mark pointing to a young woman.
"Ben." She started. "Congratulations on your win last night, how does it feel being the champion?"
In my mind, I already knew that would be a question asked, I spent half of last night trying to come up with the right response, but at that moment, my mind had gone blank, so I had to speak from the heart.
"Honestly." I said in a quiet tone. "It's surreal and brilliant all at the same time. I went in to last night with hope over expectation, I didn't think I'd be the one sitting here talking to you now and I don't think many others did. I woulda said I was the forth favourite in there last night so there's still a lot of walking on cloud nine to be done. Not really sure it's proper sunk in at this point. I got the title belt in front of me and I am now the man that leads that division. I'm the guy who should show up every week and talk when there's not a lot to talk about. That's a scary feeling but I'm excited, I know I have the chance to make people listen and a lot rests on my shoulders, but I love pressure sometimes, brings the best out of me and now I'm excited to show what people what I can do."
I watched another set of hands fire in the air and Christian point to one.
"Have you got any good advice from other wrestlers?" A man asked me.
"Yeah." I admitted. "I went for a pint with Austin James Mercer last night and the man gave me some cracking advice. He's been a champion here, he knows the size of the company, he knows the fans as well as I do and more importantly, he knows what it's like to lead a company of this size. He told me that everything from school papers to global shows will be wanting to talk to me, he told me that people will be more aware of what I do and that I gotta take it all in my stride and be smart, not to try and do everything cause it would effect my in ring work. Be grounded was said but he also said if I start to fumble the ball, he'll be right behind me to kick my head off and pick that ball up."
The crowd laughed and I couldn't help but smile, it was a conversation I had with Austin, but it was a conversation I respected. Being the champion doesn't mean you ever stop learning and someone with the wealth of knowledge Austin had, you had to listen. I watched more hands go in the air and Mark pick one out.
"You were in the ring with five tough opponents last night." The question started. "What are your thoughts on those five guys?"
I knew this was a loaded question, I knew he was waiting for me to say something he could splash over the headlines, and a look from both Christian and Mark made me know they were both thinking the same.
"Nothing but respect for them for even going through that match." I said diplomatically. "You know I respect Austin tons, Caleb Storms is a future star in my eyes. He just keeps plugging away and you gotta admire that. Lachlan too could be great, I know he was ill leading up to this match so more power to him for not crying off and forcing a replacement, and going through a risky match when not hundred percent. Fenris is obviously a friend of mine, very good friend so I know our match will be something special and Vinnie is just well, Vinnie."
It was tough talking about Vinnie at that point, I'd heard rumours last night that he was about to pull himself from the match before Austin James Mercer kicked his head in to the third row and got the pin.
"I mean he was a great champion that I have to live up to." I continued, trying not to just brush Vinnie off. "To me, that's the way wrestling grows, be better than the guy you took the belt from, and in this case Fenris and Austin James Mercer too because either of those guys could be sitting here talking to you instead."
I looked at the bosses either side of me who seemed happy with my answer, much to the disappointment of the man asking the question. Another row of hands went flying in the air.
"Does this mean your match with Fenris is for the SCW World Heavyweight Championship?" A woman asked.
"I can't answer that, but I know a couple of fella's who can." I said as I looked either side of me.
"It's been building long before the championship had anything to do with it." Mark Ward said, taking the lead. "Ben and Fenris were always gonna meet, it didn't happen last time out because of some idiot and his stupid little friend, which pissed off me, it pissed off Christian, it pissed off both Ben and Fenris and it pissed off the fans, but the plan was always to have them go out it."
"What Mark's trying to say and making it long winded." Christian said interjecting. "Is that if Ben is still the World Champion when the next Supercard comes around, he and Fenris will be going one on one for the championship."
"And if he's not?" A voice shouts out.
"They'll still be going one on one and someone else will be after the World championship." Hot Stuff clears up.
"Love the confidence there that I won't be World Champion by then." I said with a smile. "Cheers mate."
My comments seemed to draw a laugh out of the crowd as more hands flew in the air.
"How does this compare to being the top champion in ACW?" Another asks.
"That's a great question." I replied. "ACW was a very regional place, we were in Canada and we stayed in Canada but this is so different, this is a company that leaves Las Vegas and as this upcoming year shows, we're going all over the place to different cities in different countries. There's a lot of SCW fans all over the world that are very passionate, they want to see their favourite stars and the fact people are going home will put a lot more attention on us. I loved ACW but this is much bigger, it's a lot tougher. Staying in one place, you got to know the locals, you got to see them at every show, you got to know their names, you got to run in to them in the local shops and bars. Being SCW champion, people see you as that and you gotta live up to it. There's a lot more to being a World Champion in SCW than there was in ACW."
More hands hit the air as I look around, waiting for one of the bosses to point to one.
"Is there anywhere on the tour you're looking forward to going?" One woman asked.
"I can't wait to go back to Canada, lovely country." I replied in an instant. "And of course some of these smaller places I hadn't heard of until I looked down the roster and seen the potential places. I mean I didn't know there was a place called Coal City for example, and being back home and being able to wrestle in Essex, Berkshire and Kent will be pretty good too. There's lots of incredible places I wanna go. I mean Lawrenceville even sounds interesting to me."
A quick nod indicated that I was finished with that question and more hands were raised.
"Is there anyone outside the people you faced last night that you'd be interested in facing?" A voice in the crowd asked me.
This was a good question, I wanted to give everyone chance at going against me, I wanted to face the world, but this was my time I could name names and not worry.
"Griffin Hawkins, Alex Jones, Jake Raab, Bill Barnhart." I started. "All great names I'd want to face, fresh competition and all, but I wouldn't be a British wrestler if I didn't look up to the likes of the legend that is Chris Crippler. Every Brit watches Chris Crippler and it's amazing that he's actually back on the roster when people thought he was finished. Obviously too, I'd love to defend this thing against people from the past such as my good friends Drake Green and Simon Jones. Come on fella's, you know you want to come back."
I winked as I tapped the championship belt on the top and waited for the next question to come at me.
"There's a lot of people talking about you being in a movie, possibly with Drake Green." Someone says. "Playing Jacob Frye in an Assassin's Creed Syndicate movie, is there any truth in that?"
A wide smile crossed my face, I was familiar with the game and the character and could see why the links were there, set in London, London accent, me being all of that.
"That's been going around for years." I said with a smile. "I ain't sure films are my thing because the thing is, I ain't all that much of an actor. A lot of people in wrestling play a character, I don't, I'm just me at the end of the day and these two blokes either side of me allow me to be just that, just who I am. When I'm wincing in the ring, you better believe that ain't acting, that's me hurt because I work with a bunch of lads who don't hold back. I don't think the acting route is for me, but you can never say never. With wrestling, it was something I wanted to do, with acting, not sure it's me."
I looked at Hot Stuff sitting next to me.
"I mean, I can't imagine me playing someone like Superman, can you?" I asked him.
Hot Stuff shook his head as I turned to Christian.
"Or that fella from The Witcher, right?" I asked Christian.
Christian shook his head as I stared down the camera, winking at it.
"So yeah, I don't think I'd be much cop at all that acting malarkey." I said as I look back to the crowd.
More hands fly in the air and another question was asked shortly after.
"So what are your future plans?" A female voice asked from the crowd.
That's something I didn't have a clue about and my few seconds silence probably gave that away.
"Honestly people." I said in a softer tone. "I have no idea, the last day or two have been absolutely insane, I thought at this point, I'd be looking at Christmas, nodding my head and thinking of food comas, but I'm here with a championship belt instead. What I wanna do is wrestle in as many places as I possibly can. I think at times my illness stopped me from being risked too much but being recovered at this point, it's time to jump forward with things, work as much as I can in front of as many fans as I can. It's just what I feel I can do. As much as I didn't expect to be here, I'm proud that I am, I'm happy that I am sitting here in front of you all because I know without even thinking about it, I know I got the chance to make this division my own, I have a chance to do things my way. Personally, I know a lot of people are sitting there waiting to say I'm doing it wrong, but I've proved doubters wrong before and I will do again."
I had to stop for a moment, my mind was racing, so many things I wanted to put it to words.
"Nothing is for certain, but I wanna make 2020 the best year in SCW history, champion or not." I said as I looked around the room. "I wanna show people that this is the best company to work for, the best place to work for and the most entertaining place you'll ever see. I will promise that while I have this championship, I will not be one of those champions who don't bother showing up every week, I will be here every week and I will be reminding the fans that this division is something that is gonna be very special. This title won't define me, but I will sure as hell try and define the title as something worth constantly improving for."
That's the thing, a lot of people seem to think the title is the Endgame, to me, it was just the beginning.
"I have a vision of my perfect place and SCW is pretty close to that, what I want is people hungry for success here and I want to give them a chance to show they can be, with or without championships." I said confidently. "That's what I want outside of the ring."
"What about inside the ring?" Someone shouts out.
"Inside the ring, I wanna just constantly give five star matches." I tell them. "No matter the opponent, I wanna do what I did without the belt. I want to put on the best matches I possibly can. I don't want to be remembered as just a champion, I want to be remembered as one hell of a wrestler, a man who entertained."
"Ladies and Gents." Christian started. "I think that's all we have time for. It's time for us to get back to our families and enjoy the holidays."
"Thanks for coming out." Hot Stuff said as he stood up. "We'll be back in Atlanta, Georgia on January the 5th."
I stood up, picking up the belt and posing with the two bosses and then it dawned on me. I've been the SCW World Heavyweight Champion for less than twenty four hours. I was well known for years before I became the champion, I was known for rivalries with people, I was known for the work ethic I put it. My future wasn't just about being the champion, the championship belt is just there. I could be remember for so much more. I could be remembered for changing the face of the whole men's division. I would be remembered as the man who made SCW exciting, who happened to be a World Champion, rather than the World Champion who made SCW exciting. Most people won't see the difference in that, but the like minded ones like me will be smiling at this point, because they get it.
Still, press conference done, it was time to go to Maine.
Evening of 16th December 2019.
Things had been crazy so far, the press conference, the photos with every wrestling fan out there, the ones who waited for me, the autographs that are probably knocking their way around eBay at this point. I'd smiled so much and scribbled my name so many times, my face hurt and my hand had cramped, but it was time to go home, time to go to Maine if only for the day. I didn't know it might have been maybe for a day, until I sat on my private plane, just minutes from landing.
My wife Evie sat to my side, both of us admiring the SCW World Heavyweight championship on my lap. I could see the smile on her face out of the corner of my eye. I knew she was proud of me, this was something she had wanted me to go for since the day she met me, maybe one day, I'll tell you all why I didn't, but this was her dream as much as it was something I worked for.
"Are you gonna stop staring at that thing?" She asked with a lighthearted tone.
I turned my head to look at her as the place glided nicely through the air, dropping a few feet at a time as the small airfield in Bar Harbor came in to the pilots sight.
"Probably not." I admitted. "I mean I might not have it long so might as well have a butchers at it while I still can."
I watched her face fall in to a frown from the corner of my eye as she looked at me.
"No one is even gonna come close to getting that thing off you for a while." She said while squeezing my arm.
"Unless I walk to that ring in a couple of weeks and put it down in the ring and bugger off." I tell her. "Or I wait for my first defence, go completely quiet then walk to the ring, lay down and take the hit."
I knew that would shock her and her face matched my expectations.
"What the fuck have you been drinking?" She blurted out. "Why would you do that?"
It was hard to explain to her, but I tried.
"There's a story from some years ago about a champion who was instantly looked down on when he won the belt and he went and proved them all wrong." I explained. "But he was a guy who didn't give a monkeys about people and frankly, I do. If people want something to make them happy, I usually give it to them."
"Listen Saint Ben, I got a way around that." Evie told me, causing me to crack a smile at the Saint Ben line. "You with that World Championship makes me happy, now you just giving it up would make me sad, you don't wanna make ya wife sad, do ya?"
I saw the smile form on her lips, matched by my own. I didn't wanna let anyone down but I knew people out there would be sitting there thinking they'll be a better champion than me, there's probably people from the past who are probably sitting there thinking they should have won the match and they wasn't even in it - trust me, wouldn't surprise me. I knew I had to nip it in the bud before it got too far, that's a lot of the reason I stood in front of the live crowd last Sunday and said what I did.
"Listen." Evie said as her hand rested on my knee. "Don't worry about it for now, it's Christmas. I might think it's a bad holiday but you love it so from tomorrow for a week, I got plans for us that will take your mind off it all."
Whenever Evie said that, I was always a little nervous, her past plans of going to Italy as a surprise left me weak at the knees for days at the speed she was driving that Ferrari, like seriously, little village roads high in the hills and Evie smashing over a hundred miles an hour out of a car so light, it could float away, had a way of making your life flash before your eyes. Still, I knew she knew I loved Christmas, so I'll take a punt it was something that I'd love.
"Alright." I said to her "But my phones been going crackers since last night with people trying to get in touch for interviews and stuff, can I just do like maybe one good one that means something to me?"
"Only if it's in the next twelve hours." Evie said with a grin. "After that, you're all mine."
I watched her wink at me, which brought a smile to my lips.
"To be fair, I don't think I'll be awake in an hour and a good chance I'll sleep that twelve hours away." I said as I fought back a yawn that could put a hippo to shame. "I am absolutely cream crackered. Can barely keep me minces open as it is."
Evie nodded her head, understanding what I meant, even if most people watching wouldn't have a Scooby Doo... Yes, I threw that in intentionally to confuse you. The rest of the time in the air, the whole ten minutes from where we were till the wheels hit the ground, was smooth an uneventful, the wheels of the plane running over the tarmac and eventually to a stop. Our dog Bear had already made a beeline towards the door, waiting to run around an airfield he knew too well, Evie just a step behind him as the doors opened. I couldn't see her face as she looked in to the early evening dusk, but the tone of her voice got me curious as I stood from my seat.
"Oh... My... God." Her slow tone said.
I tilted my head as I moved towards her, Bear already on the tarmac and looking around.
"What's going on babe?" I asked as I stepped behind her, my championship belt on my shoulder. "Oh.... My... God!"
I'd never seen a sight like it before as we stepped off the plane and a huge cheer went up from a huge waiting crowd, waiting to greet my plane as it landed. It was like half the town had shown up to welcome me home, waiting for me on the runway - I guess smaller town rules are a little more relaxed than big airports, but my eyes were wide as I looked around the signs being waves in the air, the roar of the crowd ringing in my ears, and to top it off, the high school band playing my theme song.
"Did you know anything about this?" I asked Evie as she took a couple of steps down, allowing me to move just outside the plane.
Evie didn't reply straight away but her smile and casual shrug as she looked back at me said a lot. Eventually she broke her silence.
"I might have got a phone call this morning asking what time we was gonna be landing." She said with a smile.
"This is like a heroes welcome." I said through gritted teeth as I waved to the crowd.
"This is Bar Harbor babe." Evie reminded me. "They've probably never had a World champion at anything live here."
Evie and I stepped off the plane as I looked around in disbelief at the people who had taken the time to come and welcome me back to their town. People of all ages were standing there in the biting Maine weather just to see me. Kids from the local schools had signs with my name on it, adults cheered my name as I lifted the SCW World Heavyweight championship above my head.
"I bet Vinnie never got a homecoming like this." Evie said to me, barely audible above the crowd.
"What am I meant to do here?" I asked her as a smiled.
Evie's head nodded towards a podium with a microphone and I knew what I had to do, so I walked and waved at the same time to the podium. As soon as I got there, there was an instant hush from the crowd.
"Wow." I said exhaling. "I didn't expect this at all. Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you all for coming out, like I said, wow."
I wasn't sure what to say to them all but I needed to make sure they knew they were appreciated.
"When I got on the plane earlier, I didn't expect to be coming home to this." I admitted. "And I do mean home. You've made Evie and I feel like part of the community here and seeing this today has blown me away. Last night, I did something I never expected to do and become a champion, a leader of a company worth millions of dollars, and this ranks way up there with that because I never thought I'd be standing here talking to you all like this. I'm struggling to put in to words all the emotions running through me at this point and that is thanks to you all. I'm proud to be able to call this home amongst everyone here, because it clearly looks like the whole town has turned out here. I've lived in a lot of places but I love it here."
The crowd cheer.
"And it looks like I got a lot of pictures to pose for here so I'm gonna cut this talking down a bit." I told them. "So get your phones out and I'll do my best to see you all."
And I tried, trust me, I did, for hours I walked around, taking pictures, posing with the belt. I felt like a king, these people made me feel like a king. Something interesting happened while I was posing, I got message for an interview that meant something to me, something Evie couldn't disagree with. It meant staying up later than I wanted, but it would mean people would be waking up in the UK with my face all over their screens....
Piers Morgan, love him or hate him, I personally love his outspoken way, is without a doubt the best Breakfast news person in the world. Outspoken, and never shying away from frankly, stupidity. If ever there was a man to put the tough questions to a person, it was Piers, but he was also incredibly patriot and proud of England and loved to be the first to interview Brits who had done amazing things. It was a little private message through Twitter of all places, inviting me on to his show via video link on Tuesday morning British time and that was an offer I couldn't refuse. I loved his straight forward line of questioning but knew I would be safe from the hard questions.
2am - Maine time.
I sat watching the laptop screen, set up through a Skype session, waiting to be put live on the air to the British public, waiting for the show to return from a commercial break.
"And welcome back to GMT." Piers said as he sat next to co host Susanna Reid. "Sunday night, well, early Monday morning for the people who stayed up, England ended up with a brand new World Champion."
"That's right, everyone knows Piers is a wrestling fan, and was delighted to see that Ben Jordan had won the Sin City Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion." Susanna added.
"Well we are delighted to have Ben himself joining us all the way from Maine in the United States." Piers says with a surly look.
I presumed at this point my face went up on screens across the UK, so I made sure the SCW World championship belt was in view of the camera.
"Good morning Ben." Susanna said with a cheery smile. "We'll try not to keep you too long because of the time difference."
"Morning all." I replied, now seeing on my screen what the British public was seeing.
"Ben, Sunday night, you became the first British SCW World champion since Gabriel Stevens won the championship, back in 2015. Just the third British Heavyweight champion since SCW opened along with Mr Stevens and of course Simon Jones." Piers said without looking at any notes. "How do you feel about being in that company?"
"I know both men well, Jonesy is a good friend of mine and Gabriel trained my missus to wrestle so to be in their company is brilliant." I said with a smile. "It's not a bad list really."
"The last day or so must have been unusual." Susanna says.
"Oh you don't know the half of it love." I said with a smile. "It's been about thirty hours or so since I became the champion and it's been crazy with interviews and the like."
"But this is your first for the British fans?" Piers asked.
"Absolutely." I confirmed. "I always wanted to do this show first. Highest rated breakfast show in the country, glad you reached out to me."
"Well I am a big wrestling fan as we discussed earlier." Piers continued "So it felt right to reach out. Have people reacted differently towards you since Sunday night?"
"The fans have always been brilliant to me." I said truthfully. "They've shown nothing but love no matter where I've lived, and no matter where we've put on shows. I've always got time for them, but think I've took more selfies in the last 30 hours than I did all of last year."
"Has this opened any other doors for you?" Susanna asked.
"Doors have always been open." I admitted. "But now I'm getting offers to do everything from judging dog shows, to running for mayors of towns I've never been to."
I smiled at the camera, but could feel the tiredness kicking in.
"You beat five guys the other night." Piers reminded me. "What was it like being around so many talented guys?"
"Daunting to start with." I said with a nod. "But I'd been in a match like that before, you kinda relax in to it, but being around those five guys, you never see how great someone is until you're in the ring with them and I was lucky to be in the ring with those five. I think everything clicked nicely and it was something I really hoped people enjoyed."
"I very much did." Piers said with a smile. "I had to be up early to be here, but got up a little extra early just to see that."
"I appreciate it." I said with genuine warmth. "I know it's hard work for people back home to watch our shows because they don't finish till the early hours, so I appreciate everyone who watched us, cheered myself and the rest of the roster on."
"So now that's all said and done." Susanna asked, swaying away from the wrestling questions slightly. "What can we expect to see from you?"
"I'm just gonna give one hundred and ten percent to everything I do." I said honestly. "Doesn't matter if it's in the ring, or doing interviews or even judging those dogs shows. I'm just gonna go at it with a bit of passion and some determination."
"How did your family react to this?" Piers asked.
"Oh they were over the moon." I said with a wide grin. "My family stayed up to watch me and I came back to so many messages."
"Who was the first person you called after the match?" Susanna asked.
"My Nan." I said with a proud smile. "She's watching this now. Alright Nan!"
I waved at the camera.
"And she was so happy, which put a lump in my throat." I said as I looked down "I could hear everyone in the background, neighbours must have thought the family was a bit potty, but I think everyone was proud."
"You now have a few weeks off." Piers said as he loaded up his next question. "How do you plan on spending that time?"
"Well, hopefully as peacefully as possible, but I feel like I need to get out there, do the occasional interview, that kinda thing." I said. "People have supported me through my whole career, they've wrote good about me, they've spoke good about me, so I'm hoping over the time off I can give something back to them, maybe do some interviews like this when I get the chance because I can not thank people enough for all the love they've sent my way."
"Sounds like you're gonna be a hard working champion." Susanna states.
"Hardest working SCW has ever seen hopefully." I said with a confident nod. "I'm the face of the place now. People think when someone becomes the champion, the work stops and everyone else has to catch up, but to me, it's just the start of something that could be great. How great it is, is down to the effort I put in. No one's gonna work harder than me."
"I'm sure you'll do your country proud Ben." Piers added "With Christmas days away, what are your plans?"
"I don't have a clue mate." I said with a chuckle. "The misses wants the time between Christmas and New Year to be on her, so I'm getting surprised, could be anything going on."
"Sounds interesting." Susanna commented. "So when is SCW back on the screens?"
"We're back on January 5th in Atlanta, Georgia." I answered. "SCW are going on a hometown tour where we're off to wrestlers hometowns, thank the fans in person for the years of support and is a great way to see more of our families."
"So you're coming back to London?" Piers asks with a slightly raised eyebrow.
"Indeed I am." I replied, a smile on my face just thinking about it. "I'm not sure when, but there's a few of us on the roster from the UK, so we'll be spending a little time back home at some point over the next year."
"When you're back here, we'd like to invite you on to the show in person." Piers said, ever the opportunist.
It didn't shock me that he was gonna make that offer. I've seen him on Twitter, I've seen the way he would invite people on to his show the night before and have them there, just because of something they've said on social media. Hell, didn't take me long to agree to be on here now.
"I will very much take you up on that offer." I said with a firm nod.
"Great." Piers said, knowing his guest pulling power was still strong. "Make sure you bring that belt with you when you do."
I run my hand over the championship belt and smile.
"You can bank on it." I told him as I tapped the title.
"Well Ben, it's been lovely having you on." Susanna said. "But we'll let you go to sleep now. Thank you for joining us and best of luck in your future."
"Thanks very much guys." I said with a firm nod. "Merry Christmas."
With that, I could see on my screen my face fade from their live show. Didn't take me more than a minute to shut the laptop down. Within the next ten minutes, I was in bed next to my wife, wondering just what she had planned for the holiday times.
What a couple of days that was, but I think it's sunk in now a little better. It did in Atlanta when I walked through that curtain and I felt that buzz, I felt that energy, I was the champion, the fans were on my side, a couple of people backstage who might not be happy with the title being in my possession have faded a lot from my mind and I stood in Lawrenceville, Georgia, a place you could only describe as quaint.
Standing outside the Gwinnett Historic Courthouse, the SCW World Heavyweight Championship over my shoulder, I look up at the beautiful brick building, even for a dreary day at the beginning of January, the building felt full with life and people freely walked past me, some recognizing me, others wondering what a guy in a navy suit and white shirt was doing standing outside with a whole lot of gold resting over my shoulder.
"Alright." I say to a group of teens as they stand looking at me.
"You're the SCW wrestler, Ben Jordan." One of the male teens musters up the courage to say to me.
It's a wrestlers thing to be recognized all over the world but people seemed to take notice a little more after December 2 Dismember IV
"That I am mate." I tell the boy.
"Are you gonna give Bill Barnhart a shot at the title?" Another quickly asks me.
"Any time Bill fancies it." I reply with a nod.
"Why are you at the courthouse?" A young girl asks.
I smile towards her, as she shyly turns away and I point my finger towards the camera.
"That's an SCW camera." I explain. "And I was passing through this place and thought I don't have my lake or trusty leather chair to sit in and speak about my upcoming match, so I thought I'd bring the cameras down here in front of a place of history. That's my thing for this tour, find something historic, talk about my matches there."
"So we're on TV right now?" Another young girl asks.
"Not yet." I explain. "See, I record this, send it to the right people, who tidy it up a bit, and they air it on the SCWrestling.net site."
Slipping in to this champion thing pretty well, engaging the crowd, talking like someone they can relate to, not looking down on people, yeah, this ain't bad.
"But I'll tell them not to cut this bit out, so you will be on the site in a day or two, so let ya friends know." I say with a wink. "But sooner I do this, sooner people all around the world will see ya."
I smile again and look directly at the camera.
"Alright people." I say looking down the camera.
A cheer forces me to look to my left, seeing a crowd of people gathered, just watching me. I point to the camera to spin and capture them on film, and the cameraman does, before spinning back towards me.
"Love it, audience watching at all." I say with an approving nod. "What you sat and watched earlier is basically the first thirty six hours of my championship reign. Austin wasn't kidding when he said expect chaos. My phone has been bouncing, I've had offers to do so many things and I don't expect it to be slowing down anytime soon. Thankfully, I got some time over the holidays to relax and think clearer about the future, but the future starts now for me."
I point to the ground, as a way of showing I mean now.
"Last Sunday I went out there and told anyone who felt they should have my championship to come at me. Just walk to the ring and talk and you get a shot at this." I say with a point to the belt. "Roxi on the other hand went out and told people to earn it, but me, I wanna kill the entitled attitudes dead in their tracks. I got to the back and I got pulled to one side telling me that my first opponent to be in the ring opposite me, my first challenger wouldn't need to do that, that as a former champion, Senor Vinnie is the first in line. Logic I couldn't argue with really."
I couldn't, I wanted to sit and say maybe Austin James Mercer deserved it more, but I had a gut feeling Vinnie would be the first in line.
"It was always gonna be that way I think." I admit "I could tell from the second I looked across after winning that match, when I stepped back through the curtain to see people cheering and clapping and Vinnie just looking and holding his neck, that he was gonna put a case to someone to put himself in a match with me as soon as possible. I knew Fenris, Austin, Vinnie and I were being rested for the first show back, I knew Caleb wanted back in the ring right away, and I still have no clue what the deal is with Lachlan, so I knew as soon as that neck was checked out and he did the maths to know he'd be recovered a couple of weeks in to the tour, he'd be shouting his case to come at me."
I instinctively shrugged my shoulders.
"I knew when you came out on Twitter and said that the injury wasn't as bad as first feared, you'd be running at me like a bull after a red flag." I said in truth. "But I am wondering about something Vinnie. Did you take those couple of days to consider your future? I mean you knew Fenris and I were going one on one, did you sit there and wonder if I was gonna be given lesser opponents to get me through as champion till the Supercard, meaning your rematch would go down the swanny? Did you hear the one about the cockney who went to the staff and told them he wanted to face everyone and didn't want to be protected? Maybe you did and all of a sudden, miraculous recovery."
Like it was mentioned earlier, I heard rumours of a neck problem in that match, I don't think a kick to the face would have helped it.
"I watched before Austin took you out of the match and I watched you talk to the referee, pointing to your neck before BAM! You was seeing stars." I say as I think back to that match. "Now I wouldn't have thought a champion would be bottling it, crying out of the match unless there was a problem. I mean what champion would ever cry out of a match injured? I know I saw it in a tag championship match a while ago where one team cried out with injury, but I couldn't imagine a World Champion doing the same thing. World champions live and die by the sword, they continue on until they can't continue on, so I find it hard to believe you'd give up the title just like that because of a small injury so it must have been a tough one there for you to consider it, so the fact you're willing to go at this point is commendable when you could have taken a little more time to recover."
To me, neck injuries shouldn't be rushed back from but Vinnie knows himself better than I will.
"I know that people can focus on the neck problem, and make the mistake of falling in to the trap of just looking at that." I say honestly. "But I am not focusing on that at all. I mean you could be hoping I do, lulling me in to a false sense of security and be perfectly fine. I gotta look at you as the man you was before you stepped in to that chamber, because I know we're all trying to get back to the people we were before we stepped in to that hell. You were not as bad a champion as most people make out. I know you've been mocked about it but in ring, you were something else mate. When you burst on to the scene, before this belt was yours, your promo stuff entertained me. Having a chat with a cactus, ya nephew knocking around, the jokes, man that was brilliant stuff, I ain't gonna lie. Then it was like that flame got put out by something or someone. There was a huge flame burning that seemed to disappear when you won this thing."
I point to the title on my shoulder.
"Something stopped you being funny and entertaining, something took the fun side of you and seemed to get rid of it. The fun was replaced with lovey dovey stuff and that didn't entertain me as much." I admitted. "I'm not gonna mock the fact that when you wasn't wrestling, you spent less than a minute on the screens but after the time you won this belt, the spark had gone for me with ya stuff but it never stopped you from being a great wrestler, never took away from the fact that you held the belt with pride and was SCW first Mexican World Champion I think. I can't take this match lightly cause I know what you can be like, I know you can end things before I can blink."
I breathe deeply before I can continue.
"There's two ways of looking at this from my view. Either one, you've rushed yourself back because you don't wanna go any extra days away from this championship than you have to, so you're willing to put that neck on the line and risk re-injuring it again." I say as I run my fingers down the belt. "Or you're coming back with all the fire and determination in the world to try and get this from me and end my run before I've got out of the starting blocks."
I tap my chin, thinking for just a second.
"Gotta think it's a bit from column A, bit from column B." I muse. "I don't think you're ready and fully fit, but I think you're gonna give it your all and have a proper go at me, but you gotta wonder what happens when I walk out with this belt. You've shot your shot and missed because you wasn't fully fit to go that extra mile. That's what you needed to think about. You're coming at me too early, I'm full of confidence that I can defend the title with success in my first go so this is a ballsy move from you, very ballsy, but the fact remains that I ain't gonna be a one show champion, I ain't gonna lose this early in my run. If you woulda asked me a couple of weeks ago, I wouldn't be as sure but times past, I've started to get comfortable with this thing, I haven't let it out of my sight for too long since I won it and I ain't planning on letting it out my sight for a long time to come."
My eyes drift to the belt as a smile crosses my face. I could still hear that three count in my head and the roar of the crowd from weeks ago, that's pushing me on.
"You may very well be one of those people Vinnie, who sit there and think you could do this better than I could." I say with a tone of determination. "You might think that this should never have left you but you had your chance with it, I'm sure the fans will remember something from your championship run, promos or matches, I'm sure they will but this is my time now to show exactly what I can, show the world that this really has been a long time coming, that it should have happened years ago that this championship belt should have been with me."
I point to myself.
"I didn't luck out Vinnie to win this." I say firmly. "I spent years of my life carving out a career so when I did get this championship, it didn't make me who I was, it became an added string to my bow. I wanted to be known for the stuff I did before as well as the stuff I'm about to do and what I'm about to do is gonna be spectacular and it starts on Sunday, it starts at Climax Control here in Lawrenceville Georgia..."
I knew what was gonna happen and the gathering crowd didn't let me down as they cheered at me using the name of their hometown.
"These people are coming out to see a couple of things Vinnie." I say looking down the camera with a smile. "They're coming out to see Bill and Bea Barnhard compete."
Again the crowd cheer.
"And they're here to see me successfully defend my World Heavyweight Championship Vinnie." I say with a wide smile. "You never forget ya first Vinnie and I won't be forgetting you."
I smile down the camera.
"Now there's a bunch of people over there who I know are waiting patiently for me to shut my yap so I can go take a few photos with them, few autographs, be the SCW champion people expect of me." I say with a nod. "You know, be fan friendly, be who I was before this lovely jubbly golden belt sat over my shoulder. I will see you on Sunday mate."
I wink at the camera.
"Laters people."
And with that, I was off to join the wrestling fans of Lawrenceville to sign autographs, take photos and be approachable. So until Sunday....
